*People of 5 distts deprived of awareness about flagship schemes
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 30: Unbelievable it may sound but it is a fact that State Government is taking casually important communiqués of the Union Government particularly those which are exclusively focused on the people living in remote and hilly parts of Jammu and Kashmir. In some cases, the non-serious approach has been noticed right from the offices of Chief Secretary to the Divisional Commissioners.
A glaring example of such an unwarranted approach came to the fore recently that too towards a communiqué which pertains to generating awareness among the people of remote and hilly districts about various flagship schemes and programs of the Union Government.
In the month of May this year, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting decided to organize mass outreach program across the country to highlight various flagship schemes of Government of India so that common masses could derive their benefits. Accordingly, 300 districts and State Capitals were identified for this exercise to be conducted with the assistance of National Film Development Corporation, which falls under the domain of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Vide DO Letter No. P-11011/3/2017-PPC dated May 20, 2017, K Sanjay Murthy, Joint Secretary (Policy and Admin) of Information and Broadcasting Ministry asked the Chief Secretary of J&K B B Vyas to take steps for conduct of outreach program in Doda, Jammu, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Udhampur districts from May 23 to June 11, 2017.
He was also told that necessary arrangements should be made to facilitate movement of LED mounted van in different locations of these districts to make people aware of the flagship schemes of the Government of India. Even exhibitions showcasing Government initiatives in different sectors, guidance session by experts on various subjects and information kiosks for various schemes as per the individual requirement were planned under the outreach program.
The Chief Secretary’s office forwarded the communiqué of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to the Department of Information of State Government albeit after delay of some days. Thereafter, the Information Department slept over the communication for several days and it was only on June 5, 2017 that Sushil Kumar Mattoo, Under Secretary to Government, Information Department vide Letter No.ID/Gen/26/2017 forwarded the communication of Information and Broadcasting Ministry to the Divisional Commissioner Jammu for necessary action.
Due to the slackness on the part of concerned officers in the Chief Secretary’s office and Information Department, no activity could be carried out for nearly two weeks. Even the office of Divisional Commissioner didn’t find it appropriate to immediate flash the message to the concerned Deputy Commissioners despite being aware of the fact that only six days were left as per the schedule fixed by the Union Ministry.
The intensity of further non-serious approach towards the communication of I&B Ministry can be gauged from the fact that Deputy Director (P&S) with Divisional Commissioner Jammu Kiran Bala forwarded the letter of Under Secretary to Government, Information Department as well as DO Letter of Union Joint Secretary to the Deputy Commissioners of Udhampur, Jammu, Doda, Rajouri and Kishtwar vide Letter No.902/Div-Com/P&S/Misc/474-79 on June 27, 2017.
As such the concerned Deputy Commissioners received the information about outreach program 16 days after the expiry of schedule fixed by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. The shocking aspect is that in the letter dated June 27, 2017, the Deputy Director (P&S) told the Deputy Commissioners to take immediate necessary action in the matter.
“It is a matter of concern that while adopting casual approach towards the important communication of the Union Ministry, the office of the Divisional Commissioner wanted the concerned Deputy Commissioners to show urgency in the matter”, official sources remarked, adding “in this way the concerned officers in the offices of Chief Secretary, Information Department and Divisional Commissioner created obstacles in convening of outreach program and making people aware about the flagship schemes of Government of India”.
“This is not for the first time that any communiqué of the Union Government has been handled with non-seriousness”, sources said, adding “it has become a routine in several Government departments to dump the communications for several days and act only when either reminder is sent by the concerned Ministry of the Union Government or someone points the slackness”.
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